Amendment to R.A. No. 1124 (Creation of Board of National Education)

June 19, 1965

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 4372

AN ACT TO AMEND REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED ELEVEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOUR ENTITLED "AN ACT CREATING A BOARD OF NATIONAL EDUCATION CHARGED WITH THE DUTY OF FORMULATING GENERAL EDUCATIONAL POLICIES AND DIRECTING THE EDUCATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE NATION"

SECTION 1. Section one of Republic Act Numbered Eleven hundred and twenty-four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 1. There is hereby created a Board of National Education which is hereby authorized to formulate general education objectives and policies, coordinate the offerings, activities and functions of all educational institutions in the country with a view to carry out the provisions of the constitution and to accomplishing an integrated, well rounded nationalistic and democracy-inspired educational system in the Philippines."

SECTION 2. Section two, of Republic Act Numbered Eleven hundred and twenty-four is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. The Board of National Education shall be composed of eight members as follows:

(a) The Secretary of Education

(b) The Chairman of the Committee on Education in the House of Representatives

(c) The Chairman of the Committee on Education in the Senate

(d) The President of the University of the Philippines; and

(e) Four other members who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission of Appointments, one from each of the following groups:

(a) Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines;

(b) Muslim Association of the Philippines;

(c) Philippine Association of Christian Schools;

(d) Philippine Association of Colleges and Universities."

SECTION 3.  Section three of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 3.  The Secretary of Education shall act as Chairman of the Board. A Vice-Chairman shall be elected from among the members of the Board who shall act as Chairman in the absence of the Secretary of Education. The Chairman and members of the Board shall be entitled to a per diem of fifty pesos (P50) for actual attendance of the meeting of the Board which shall not exceed five hundred pesos (P500) a month.

The Board shall have a regular meeting at least twice a month and may have as many special meetings as may be necessary at the call of the Chairman or any three members thereof."

SECTION 4.  Section four of the same Act is hereby amended by adding and inserting therein, subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:

(d) To establish guidelines, policies, and criteria on the basis of which the examination, evaluation, and approval of textbooks by the Board of Textbooks shall be made.

(e) To compile educational statistics, keep records on education, conduct researches, surveys, and studies on educational conditions and problems, evaluate the effects of national educational policies, and undertake such other activities as to effectively carry out the purpose of this Act.

(f) To secure data and information from all government offices and entities and educational institutions, public and private, and to consult and confer with the officers and personnel thereof, on such matter as may be necessary for the Board to discharge its functions.

(g) To submit an annual report to the President and to Congress not later than January thirty-first of each year which shall include a compilation of the national educational policies formulated by the Board, an evaluation of the national educational system, and recommendations to the Executive and Legislative branches of the government on the improvement of the educational system of the country. aisa dc

SECTION 5. Section five of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 5. It shall be the agency of the Government for the formulation of educational policies and the direction of the educational interest of the nation, subject only to the constitutional authority to the Congress and the President of the Republic over executive departments, bureaus and offices."

SECTION 6. Section seven of the same Act is amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 7. The Board shall appoint a Secretary who shall have the rank of undersecretary of a department and shall have a secretariat composed of an administrative, research, and technical staff as may be necessary to carry out its functions, whose qualification and compensation shall be determined by the Board subject to existing laws: Provided, That no officer or employee in the existing staff of the Board shall suffer a reduction in rank or receive a compensation lower than that now received by him or to which he is entitled under existing laws."

SECTION 7.  Section nine of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 9.  The sum of One million pesos or so much thereof as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act, is hereby appropriated out of any funds in the national Treasury not otherwise appropriated."

SECTION 8.  All laws, rules and regulations contrary to the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed. aisa dc

SECTION 9.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved: June 19, 1965

Published in the Official Gazette, Vol. 62, No. 31, p. 5561 on August 1, 1966